Sandesh Jhingan put in a strong showing for Kerala Blasters FC in defence during their 1-0 win over NorthEast United FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Sunday. It was the Blasters’ fifth successive win at home and saw them move to second spot with 22 points from 14 games in Hero Indian Super League 2016. Kerala will now face Delhi Dynamos FC in the semis with the first leg set to take place in Kochi on December 11. Jhingan completed one successful tackle, two interceptions, four blocks and five clearances for Kerala against the Highlanders. He spoke to indiansuperleague.com shortly after the game and shared his thoughts. Here are the excerpts from the interview.Your fans always show up and this time they showed up with a lot of energy. Are you pleased with the result?Of course, after the second season we wanted to reach the semis and do something for the fans and we worked hard for it and I think it was a good performance from the lads and we deserved to qualify. Now we have qualified so we have got to stay positive and work harder, and hopefully we will get a better result in the semis.NorthEast United came out to win this game and they put plenty of pressure on you. Were there any doubts in your mind as regards whether you will be able to stop them?In every game, there is pressure and of course it was a big game but there were no doubts and we did our job and we came out victorious with three points.Delhi is a tough attacking team, so are you looking forward to playing them in the semis?Yes, it is going to be a good contest and we are looking forward to it.A quick message to your fans who are watching this live on Facebook…Thank you all for such great love and as you can see, it is crazy over here and it’s beautiful and I love them so much, and it gives me goose-bumps. It is great to be here.
